3 Myths about Skin Cancer

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Summer time is almost upon us and while most people are excited to go to the beach and have some fun in the sun, most of us health conscious people fear the effects of the sun on our skin. I’m a Floridian and as a Floridian you are taught to constantly protect yourself from the sun because of the growing rates of skin cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that Melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer, affects about 70,000 Americans each year, and out of those 70,000 it kills about 10,000 of them. One of the saddest things about this statistic is that Melanoma can be treated if caught early on – it is a highly treatable form of skin cancer.

But Why Does This Happen?

While most cases of skin cancer can be chalked up to people not taking the proper precautions – there are other factors to be considered as well. Here are the six most common myths/urban legends that people trick themselves into believing when it comes to preventing skin cancer.

SPF is enough – A lot of people believe that sun screen with high SPF value is enough to protect them from skin cancer. This not the case. There are two types of damaging sun rays, Ultraviolet A and Ultraviolet B (UVA and UVB, respectively), and you have to make sure your sun screen protects you from both rays of the sun.

Dark Skin as Protection – Sadly, this is one of the most common excuse that people use for not protecting themselves from the sun. It’s a pretty popular myth among people and entirely false.

Sunscreen causes cancer – Again, another very common misconception amongst the superstitious. Because sun screen has a lot of chemicals as ingredients people think that it is actually harmful for you. Not the case.